Russia has formally requested to extradite a Russian citizen arrested in Thailand on the orders of the FBI, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.
Businessman Dmitry Ukrainsky is wanted in Russia on charges of fraud, a spokesperson for Russia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office told Interfax.
Preliminary investigations show that Ukrainsky worked in a crime ring which embezzled over 7.5 million rubles ($112,000) between April and May 2013, the spokesperson said.
Ukrainsky was detained last month by Thai authorities after an arrest warrant was submitted to the country's court by the FBI. U.S. authorities allege that Ukrainsky embezzlled $28 million from bank accounts in several countries, and is wanted for money laundering. Ukrainsky denies all charges.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly pressed the Thai government to block Ukrainsky’s extradition to the United States, claiming that such a move is “categorically inadmissible.”
“The Unites States continues to practice extrajudicial and illegal abductions of other country's nationals from third countries,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last week.
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